China sends troops to border with conflict-torn Myanmar: media

BEIJING
(Reuters) - China has sent soldiers to its border with Myanmar amid
concern that escalating violence between the Southeast Asian country's
government and ethnic separatists is spilling over, an official Chinese
newspaper reported on Friday.

The Global Times said that troops
were sent to the border between China's Yunnan Province and Myanmar's
northern Kachin State "to understand the situation". It did not give any
details on the number or type of soldiers.

"On the night of the
9th, there was shelling in Kachin, and residents of the unstable area
quickly ran inside the Chinese border to pass the night in peace," the
report said. Yunnan is home to an ethnic Kachin population.

The
Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, carried an
article on its website from the Changjiang Daily newspaper describing
artillery shells exploding on a mountain in Yingjiang County, which
borders Myanmar.

Officials in the Dehong prefecture government, in which the county is located, declined to comment on Friday.

The
intensification of the conflict has cast doubt on the intentions of
Myanmar's government, which is led by former generals who have been
praised for reforms in other areas including elections, media and civil
society.

Kachin rebel sources have reported aerial bombings,
shelling and even the use of chemical weapons since December 28.
Myanmar's government said there were no airstrikes, but that K-8 trainer
jets had provided cover fire to protect ground troops from rebel
attacks.

The 18-month conflict in Kachin state is one of the
biggest tests for Myanmar's new civilian government's reform effort and
the use of aircraft has raised doubts about whether the retired generals
in the government have really changed their harsh old ways.

While
China has strong business and trade ties with Myanmar, it has long
looked with wariness at its poor and unstable southern neighbor and has
repeatedly called on the country to ensure stability along the vast and
remote border.

China had forcibly returned scores of ethnic
Kachins who have fled Myanmar, a human rights group said last year.
(Reporting By Beijing Newsroom; editing by Jonathan Standing)